Bulletproof laptop bag; ballpark food survey; ‘feminism’ defined

Chronicle Staff and News Services

Published
3:27 pm PST, Thursday, February 23, 2017

Sink your teeth into this

You gotta know your customers, which is why the West Michigan Whitecaps are once against surveying fans about the best way to clog their arteries. All right, so technically the minor-league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers is asking people to pick one new ballpark menu item from among 10 choices, which range from a kale salad (just kidding) to cardio-unfriendly things like deep-fried bubble gum; a footlong corn dog surrounded by onion rings; and a deep-fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich coated in Doritos.

‘Feminism’ — you can look it up

The woman who brought us “alternative facts” now has prompted a tweet from Merriam-Webster, the dictionary folks, offering a definition of “feminism.” The word started trending Thursday after Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to President Trump, said at the Conservative Political Action Conference, “It’s difficult for me to call myself a feminist in the classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male and it certainly is very pro-abortion, in this context.” Webster tweeted back, “‘Feminism’ is defined as ‘the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.’”

You won’t get

a bang out of this

It’s happened to all of us: You’re doing work at, say, a Starbucks, and all of a sudden you think, “Gee, I wish my laptop bag could also protect me from knives and bullets.” OK, maybe that’s not exactly you, but it is the thinking behind the 8-pound Multi Threat Shield bag, which can be unfurled into a shield about 3 feet long and 1½ feet wide. If you truly do believe in safety first, you can buy it for $800 to $900 from the Force Training Institute.